
Components You Will Need
These components are everything you will need for a basic Tactical Space Marine carrying a bolter with both hands.
Bases- this choice will depend on how you plan to use these conversions in game. Will they "count as" Terminators or Power Armoured marines? Are you planning on using them in tournaments? There are a number of things to consider. A power armoured space marine normally mounts on a 25mm base. Using Terminator legs are a little too big and look uncomfortable on the 25mm. Personally I find 40mm looks too big. 30mm is a decent compromise, that is not too much of a difference for casual games. Aesthetically 30mm is the nicest size for the Terminator legs. One option I've been considering is magnetizing the model's feet, and having a choice of bases (hell, you could even have different style bases for different gaming tables, ie: desert, snow, grass, ruins).
EDIT: 30mm bases are available from Impact Miniatures: www.impactminiatures.com
Terminator Legs - there are 5 basic pairs available.
Power Armour Torso - (front and back)
Head
2 matching Backpacks
2 Terminator Shoulder Pads - left and right
Right Arms - one power armour arm one terminator arm. The terminator arm should either be a Thunder Hammer arm or Storm Bolter arm (preferred).
Left Arms - one power armour gripping arm one terminator Storm Shield arm.
Bolter - standard, but the AoBR bolters are very nice because they come with a hand attached, and are slightly slimmer, so fit across the chest nicely.
Acessories - pouches, purity seals, grenades - important for WYSIWYG, but also helps conceal less than perfect sculpting if placed properly.
Plasticard - available in A4 sheets, generally the thinest you can get.

Tools Required
Greenstuff
Superglue
Scalpel (not a craft/stanley knife, but a scalpel) - the GW knife, is one of the best I've used (although there are probably better ones out there). The scalpel blade is great for sculpting as well as cutting.
Replacement Scalpel Blades - cheap enough to get hold of, I bought a few hundred for next to nothing on ebay. Maintaining a sharp clean blade is essential, I usually swap my blades every few days.
Needle Files - flat (rounded, circular are optional).
Pin Vice - plus various drill bits.
Clippers - also optional pliers.
Clay Shapers -soft rubber tipped tools in various shapes and sizes - VERY IMPORTANT TOOL
Wet & Dry Paper - (fine grades)
Paperclips

Greenstuff
When mixing your Greenstuff, make sure you have a clean work surface and clean hands, as any dust, plastic shavings, stray hairs, etc, will affect the quality of the putty. Ideally gloves would be recommended, but I personally never use them, and haven't had any problems myself. I typically cut a strip from the roll, small amounts at a time. Before mixing the yellow and blue components make sure to cut away the putty in the middle where the yellow and blue meet, otherwise you will get lumps in your mix. I myself used lumpy Greenstuff for years until someone told me I needed to remove the putty that had already slightly cured due to contact. It seems obvious now, but not at the time.
I tend to favour a 2:1 ratio of yellow to blue for most areas of sculpting. It takes longer to cure, but is softer and generally allows a smoother finish. if you are sculpting something that requires sharp details instead, then using more blue would be recommended.


Building the Legs
The legs should always be your starting point. Begin by triming the "hip plates" from the terminator legs. I use clippers to snip them off (beware flying plastic), trying to keep as much of the thighs intact as possible. I then clean them up with a scalpel. The belt and thighs will be sculpted over but it's good practice to keep the components clean and tidy. I forgot whilst building the example, but now is a good time to carefully remove the existing belt buckle (usually a skull or crux shape).



Edited by Lamenter, 10 February 2010 - 04:23 AM.